# EUR-Lex - 12003T/PRO/05 - EN

Important legal notice

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# 12003T/PRO/05

**Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded - Protocol No 5 on the transit of persons by land between the region of Kaliningrad and other parts of the Russian Federation **

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Official Journal L 236 , 23/09/2003 P. 0946 - 0946 *

Protocol No 5

on the transit of persons by land between the region of Kaliningrad and other parts of the Russian Federation

THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES,

CONSIDERING the particular situation of the region of Kaliningrad of the Russian Federation in the context of the Union's enlargement,

RECOGNISING the obligations and commitments of Lithuania with regard to the acquis establishing an area of freedom, security and justice,

NOTING, in particular, that Lithuania shall fully apply and implement the EC acquis regarding the list of countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement as well the EC acquis regarding the uniform format for a visa as from accession at the latest,

RECOGNISING that the transit of persons by land between the region of Kaliningrad and other parts of the Russian Federation through EU territory is a matter concerning the Union as a whole and should be treated as such and must not entail any unfavourable consequence for Lithuania,

CONSIDERING the decision to be taken by the Council to remove controls at internal borders after it has verified that the necessary conditions to that effect have been met,

DETERMINED to assist Lithuania in fulfilling the conditions for full participation in the Schengen area without internal frontiers as soon as possible,

HAVE AGREED ON THE FOLLOWING PROVISIONS:

Article 1

The Community rules and arrangements on transit of persons by land between the region of Kaliningrad and other parts of the Russian Federation, and in particular Council Regulation establishing a specific Facilitated Transit Document (FTD), a Facilitated Rail Transit Document (FRTD) and amending the Common Consular Instructions and the Common Manual shall not in themselves delay or prevent the full participation of Lithuania in the Schengen acquis, including the removal of internal border controls.

Article 2

The Community shall assist Lithuania in implementing the rules and arrangements for the transit of persons between the region of Kaliningrad and the other parts of the Russian Federation with a view to Lithuania's full participation in the Schengen area as soon as possible.

The Community shall assist Lithuania in managing the transit of persons between the region of Kaliningrad and the other parts of the Russian Federation and shall, notably, bear any additional costs incurred by implementing the specific provisions of the acquis provided for such transit.

Article 3

Without prejudice to the sovereign rights of Lithuania, any further decision concerning the transit of persons between the region of Kaliningrad and other parts of the Russian Federation will be only adopted after the accession of Lithuania by the Council acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission.

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